Football: The Sherwood group puts together an overall record of 44-1

It didn't end the way the seniors on the Sherwood High School had hoped, but those Bowmen came oh so close to making it a perfect four years.

Back when they were freshmen, the current Sherwood seniors had a 9-0 record for the Bowmen freshmen team.

As sophomores, playing on the Bowmen junior varsity squad, the current seniors again enjoyed a perfect 9-0 season. Last year, as juniors, the same group went 13-0 as they helped Sherwood win the Class 5A state championship.

That gave the seniors a career high school record of 31-0 going into this season. And, in the 2011 season, the Bowmen won their first 13 games before being edged 14-13 by Mountain View of Bend Saturday in the Class 5A state championship game held at Hillsboro Stadium.

That meant that the group of Sherwood seniors finished up their four years with an overall record of 44-1.

'Forty-four and one, that's not bad,' Sherwood senior halfback/linebacker Connor Munro said following Saturday's title contest. 'I think we really did well for the program. We gave it everything we had for the community.'

'It would have been really special to go 45-0,' Sherwood senior halfback/linebacker Paul Dodson said. 'But 44-1 is pretty good. We all worked hard together and we all bonded.'

'We had a good run,' Sherwood senior lineman John Powers said. 'I'm sort of shell-shocked with losing - we're not used to it.'

That might be an understatement. After all, it was the Sherwood seniors' first ever loss on the football field at the high school level.

But, while the 44-1 mark is impressive, the special aspects of the past four years seems to run deeper than just total victories.

'We've been together since third grade,' Sherwood senior fullback/linebacker Cody Setere said. 'We all hang out together.'

'We all have tough things going on in our lives,' Sherwood senior receiver/cornerback Brandon Blackshear said. 'But we all know that we always have each other.

'We wanted 45-0, but 44-1 isn't bad.'

No, it isn't.

'We came close to running the table,' Setere said with a smile. 'That's the coolest thing. We went 44-1, but we had a chance to go 45-0.'

'It was a great four years,' Sherwood senior defensive back A.J. Spencer said. 'We overcame a lot. That's what we do. That's what the coaches taught us.'